1890 National Scholarship

The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program was established in 1992 as part of the partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the 1890 Land-Grant Universities. The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program is implemented under the USDA Fellows Experience Program (FEP). Scholars accepted into the program will be appointed using the Schedule A(r) authority (5 CFR 213.3202) and may be eligible for noncompetitive conversion to full-time employment upon graduation. Successful applicants will receive a temporary appointment to the USDA, not to exceed 4 years. Upon successful completion of the degree requirements and the end of the agreement period, the scholar may be eligible for conversion to a permanent appointment in service to USDA without further competition, using the Conversion to Career Conditional Appointment Farm Bill 2018 (5 CFR 213.3102) authority code “ZLM”.

The goal of the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program is to increase the number of minorities studying agriculture, food, natural resource sciences, and related disciplines. National Scholars are required to study in the following or related disciplines.

Scholarships are awarded annually and must be used at one of 1890 Historically Black Land-Grant Universities. Each award provides full tuition, as well as room and board, for the term of the scholarship. The scholarship may be renewed each year, contingent upon satisfactory academic performance and normal progress toward the bachelor’s degree.